Gamble's Conclusion

Sitting atop the stove, a pot of water began to boil. Yet, while the water boiled, the stove was unlit and cold.

Standing over the boiling pot of water, watching attentively as bubbles of hot air rose to the water's surface, was a young boy about ten years of age. He was Theodore.

Through his threads of Aether, Theodore had caused the water to boil by sending high-frequency vibrations into the water molecules, causing them to enter a highly active state, thereby boiling the water within the pot.

With the number of threads he had to deploy and the amount of Aether he expended with this technique, it would have been far more efficient had he just started a fire in the stove using the same trick, though it wouldn't be much of a training in that case.

Carefully lifting the pot, Theodore carefully poured the steaming hot content into a teapot placed on a nearby table. Frankly, the water was far too hot for brewing tea, but Theodore cared little for the taste. So long as the benefits were contained within the fluid, he couldn't be bothered.

After soaking the leaves and letting them sit for a couple of minutes, Theodore poured the herbal tea into a crude mug and headed for the living room.

As he sat down on the old couch, a mug in his hand and Peter snuggling up beside him, Theodore began to enjoy his tea, only to be disrupted by the bell ringing from the back entrance.

Immediately, Theodore became tense. After everything he did to damper the tense mood he was having since morning, the ringing of the doorbell broke the delicate peace of mind he had built for himself.

With furrowed brows, Theodore went out to greet his guest.

***

"You seem worse for wear," commented Theodore as he led Albatross into the living room.

As Theodore's words sounded like her ordeal had nothing to do with him, Albatross could not help but feel slightly miffed.

"And whose fault do you think this is?" Albatross retorted.

"I wonder," said Theodore with a shrug, annoying Albatross further. "But well, we can talk more in private."

Or at least, as private as it could be in these walls.

The two moved into Theodore's room, whereby Albatross promptly dumped the contents inside her large delivery bag onto the ground. They were a set of four crows and a small mouse.

Knowing that the workshop was being watched, Theodore decided to have Albatross bring the undeads in and out of the workshop grounds in her bag rather than entering and exiting on their own, especially since he had to make many adjustments to the undeads' behaviors as they map out the city in his stead, making sure that they follow specific routes and take specific actions when needed. Even if they were stealthy when returning to the workshop, the sheer number of times they had to do so would exponentially increase the risk of their discovery. Theodore couldn't risk them being traced back to him.

There was, of course, the option to have at least the mouse travel through the sewers, but since he had no idea where the sewers led and couldn't directly assume control of his undeads, he feared that he might not have a way to retrieve the mouse once it was down there.

"Looks like you were able to retrieve them, at least."

"Not without problems I did not."

Albatross began to talk about her encounter with the brutish young man that was Barnaby and the boy beside him. She also mentioned Salome, albeit only briefly. Finally, she reported that she was able to retrieve the undeads at the second pick-up location arranged prior in case something occurred at the first one. There were also the third and fourth locations, but fortunately, they proved to be unnecessary this time around.

While listening to Albatross, Theodore's expression stiffened a little. Though he tried to play it off and tried to appear calm, he was about as anxious as Albatross was on the inside.

"Barnaby, the boy, and Salome... I'll keep those three in mind. Especially Salome. But let's leave that for now. More importantly..."

Pinching the small mouse with two fingers and a thumb, Theodore brought it over the palm of his other hand. With a squeeze, the mouse spat out what looked to be a ball of fur at first glance. Upon close observation, however, said fur was a bundle of seeds, seeds from the Dandelion Mandragora.

"Finally... Felt like it took forever to get my hands on these tiny things," said Theodore, breathing a heavy sigh soon after those words came out of his lips.

"So now what? You're going to keep digging that tunnel of yours?"

"That's the point of these things, no?"

"What about the roots after they've grown? Can you do something with it?"

At Albatross's words, Theodore began to ponder, resting his head on a balled fist.

"The Dandelion Mandragora grows by aggressively absorbing the Aether around it. As such, the roots will contain a high density of Aether, but I suppose you knew that already. However, it's not safe for consumption. Not only will the high density of Aether crystalize inside of your body without fail, but your body also will not be able to handle the large influx of Aether with a higher density than yours."

"What do you mean? The crystallization I already knew about, but what about that last part?"

"It's fairly simple. The Aether within your body helps maintain its regular functions. The body is the host and the Aether serves the host's interest by keeping it healthy and alive. So, what do you think will happen if you suddenly insert a large body of Aether that came from a source outside of your body without taking the time to adapt them for your use? It would dilute your Aether and fill your body with Aether that does not yet recognize it as its host. Your bodily functions will be utterly messed with and you would sooner die of multiple organ failures, abrupt and violent mutations, as well as Aether crystallization. Needless to say, it would be a mess to clean up."

"What in the Abyss!? That's horrid! How is anyone supposed to make potions with this stuff?"

"Well, that's just what would happen if you consume just the roots. I'm sure there are several other ingredients mixed with it to damper the ill effects and maximize the beneficial ones. We'll just have to figure out what they are. Considering that, I suppose it's not that bad a thing that I wound up in Kalman's workshop. Either way, we gained some fine spoils from this gamble, I think that alone calls for a celebration."

As he said those words, Theodore reached a thread of Aether towards the mouse. In response, the spike of crystal sticking out of the mouse's side extended a thread towards him as well.

The two threads connect and Theodore began extracting information from the crystal. As the mouse had made it back in one piece, he did not expect it to have encountered any significant trouble, at least, none that he did not anticipate.

Then, all of the sudden, his expression turned pale.

"What? Did something go wrong?" Albatross asked upon noticing the sudden change.

"It's nothing. Of all things, I seemed to have made some slip-ups with the behavioral matrix's adjustments. It's not too bad, but it's a little troublesome to undo. It's going to take me a whole night to fix it. How about you head right on back? I am going to start working on it immediately."

"Oh... Alright then..."

Albatross was not convinced, but she did not believe that Theodore would just tell her the truth even if she forced the matter. At least, she did not trust him to do so and she did not think that Theodore trusted her either. Best to pretend not to notice and prepare for the worse.

The truth was, Albatross had been looking into people whom she could sell Theodore's secret in exchange for a favor without risking herself, someone who would find her valuable enough to protect her if need be. It was in case Theodore failed somewhere along the line and she needed a way out quick.

Though her curse made it so that she couldn't tell a mage's secret, Theodore revealed his to her specifically so that she could use it as collateral, something he gave away in exchange for her cooperation. In other words, it was a secret told to her specifically so she could tell it to someone else. It was not that different from passing on a private message, something she did often as a courier. As such, she did not feel like it counted as a violation.

There was also what Barnaby had said, about how the curse would not trigger unless the accursed in question felt that they've violated a restriction somehow. The basis of his words could not be confirmed at this time and Theodore seemed like he'll be occupied for a while, so Albatross decided that she'll have to bring it up some other day.

Without another word, Albatross began to leave and Theodore silently saw her off. Once she was gone, Theodore returned to his room and sat on his bed, holding his head in his hands as he revealed a miserable expression meant for no one to see.

"What now... I screwed it! I screwed it all up!"

Within the records of the behavioral matrix that had been imprinted within the mouse undead, there were memories of the mouse being captured. Of course, Theodore had anticipated that this might happen and prepared a countermeasure, but being caught itself wasn't the problem. Theodore's worries spawned from what entered the mouse's ears while it was caught.

In a whisper, a familiar voice spoke with the mouse undead caught in a grasp.

"Could it be... Is this your doing, Theodore?"

***

End of Chapter 62

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